Sharon Keogan (Independent)
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I wish to take this opportunity to put before the House the significant concerns of many people regarding the proposed reforms to the equality Acts. I understand the Minister, Deputy O'Gorman, has set a deadline of 29 November for the consultation on the Acts and I wish to identify for the record a very important issue that has been identified with the proposed changes.

One of the proposals put forward by the Minister is to review the grounds covered by the Act, including the proposal that gender identity be added as a protected ground. Let me be clear that, of course, transgender people and any persons struggling with gender-related issues deserve full protection from harassment and discrimination. The issue that needs to be carefully considered in the context of any amendment to the law is that gender and sex are not the same. A lack of clarity in respect of the definition of those terms has led to a position whereby persons who obtain a gender recognition certificate to change gender, even men who have not had surgery or hormones and do not intend to have any, being able to access all female-only spaces as if they were a woman. If gender identity is included in the Act, obtaining a gender recognition certificate will no longer be necessary to access these spaces.

We have already seen the impact of conflating sex and gender in our laws following the introduction of the Gender Recognition Act 2015. We now have a situation whereby male-born prisoners who have not transitioned but who are granted a gender recognition certificate, even those who have committed serious sexual offences, are placed in prison facilities for women. If gender identity is included as a ground in the equality Act without including safeguards and legal clarity as to the distinction between gender and biological sex, we will be unable to protect single-sex spaces such as toilets and changing rooms from male incursion. This will only serve to enable the two most common sexual offences, namely, voyeurism and exhibitionism.

Let me clear that this is not an attempt to paint trans people as predators - far from it. It is simply a recognition that 98.8% of sex offenders are male and 80% of victims are female. We cannot, in a noble attempt to be inclusive, worsen the position of women and children as they use intimate spaces. It would be naive indeed if we did not recognise that predators will use the complete lack of safeguards to access their victims. If we have learned anything, we have surely learned that. When self-identification was passed into law, we did not realise it conflated sex and gender, which leads to a situation whereby any man, even a fully intact sex offender, simply has to fill out a form and he can access female-only spaces. This has serious implications for women, women's rights and children's safeguarding. We cannot make the same mistake of rushing through legislative changes without considering their actual impact. The Government has not undertaken an impact assessment on this very important legislative measure. Surely, given all I have outlined, the Government would not be so reckless as to go ahead without a thorough impact assessment that addresses all the outcomes of such a change in the law, including on the other protected grounds, not least that of sex.

The Countess, a new women's and children's rights advocacy group, has repeatedly highlighted the issue and concerns caused by the confusion between sex and gender in our laws. Its recently commissioned poll shows that Irish people are tolerant of gender expression and identity in a social setting, and that it is to be applauded. However, many people want single-sex spaces and sports to be protected and believe people should be able to request intimate care and accommodation in healthcare settings based on biological sex, not gender. It would be a dereliction of our duty to protect all vulnerable groups in the population if we were to introduce such profound changes in legislation without full consideration of all the impacts. We must ensure that in protecting one group in clear need of such measures, we do not do so at the expense of another.

Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party)
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I was relieved at the start of the Senator's contribution to hear she was not in any way questioning protection for trans people in society, but I ask her in future contributions to consider her framing because to bring reference on at least two occasions to sex offenders straight into the debate and to speak about voyeurism and exhibitionism in a way that suggested these are linked to a person being trans is really problematic. There are people watching the proceedings in this Upper House of our national Parliament, such as young people or people who, as the Senator stated, may be struggling with their gender identity, and I have deep concerns with the way in which she linked some of the concepts she put together in her contribution. The rights of trans people are not up for question, as far as I am concerned. We have to put in place protections for trans people and that is what we are seeking to do in initiating this consultation on the amending of equality legislation.

It is important to state we are at the start of this process. We are undertaking a public consultation that will inform proposals that will come forward which will then go to a pre-legislative scrutiny process and then come before these Houses. I want to push back very strongly against suggestions there is some sort of jump or something is being done secretly. We have extended the consultation period on the equality legislation.

The Government is committed to building a fair and equal society where no person faces discrimination. Part of the work of creating an equal society is developing whole-of-government strategies that include actions aimed at addressing particular inequalities, such as the national strategy for women and girls and the national Traveller and Roma inclusion strategy. Another key element is putting in place legislation that prohibits discrimination and provides access to redress for those who have been discriminated against.

We have the Equal Status Acts and the Employment Equality Acts, which consider discrimination on a range of statuses, including marital status, family status, sexual orientation, gender and membership of the Traveller community. I began the review of the equality Acts to examine the scope and operation of the legislation to ensure it offers effective protections and accessible remedies to those who experience discrimination. Among the issues committed to in the programme for Government is the consideration of widening the grounds of gender and the introduction of a ground of discrimination on the basis of socioeconomic status.

The Senator will see that the national LGBTI+ inclusion strategy recognises the need to ensure adequate protection against discrimination for transgendered, non-conforming and intersex people. That is one of the issues at which we will be looking in this review. We will undertake the review. Everyone is entitled to participate in it. There will be a pre-legislative process.However, it is very important that we recognise that transpeople in our society are deeply vulnerable. The suicide rates among transpeople are much higher than those for other parts of society. It is incumbent on all of us to be very careful with the language and concepts we use and to ensure that nobody who is transgender in this country feels that his or her rights or existence in our society are in any way up for debate in this House.

Lynn Ruane (Independent)
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Hear, hear.

Sharon Keogan (Independent)
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I thank the Minister for his comments. I understand the difficulties that youth and transpeople have with regard to their sexuality. I have had many children in my care who may have been even thrown out of their homes because of their sexuality. I have had a number of transchildren in my care as a foster parent. Obviously, I have raised some issues this morning that have caused deep offence to the Minister and to the transcommunity, which I certainly do not wish to do. However, I look forward to receiving that report when it is due to be published.

Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party)
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I am not offended. I am just saying that we have to be very careful with the language we use in this area. From her experience as a foster parent, the Senator acknowledges and knows better than me the sensitivities of children and the pressures they face, particularly where a child may be struggling with gender identity. That is why the language we use here is extremely important when we talk about these issues and the concerns people have. Referencing and bringing the debate straight to the worst-case scenario is problematic and not the way to go. I accept this is an issue and debate we will be looking at when the legislation is brought for pre-legislative scrutiny. It will probably go through the Committee on Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth, on which the Senator is represented. We will have an opportunity then to examine these issues in detail. However, it is important to reiterate in the House that the rights and existence of transpeople in our country are not matters for debate.

Sharon Keogan (Independent)
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My point this morning is all about the safeguarding of women and children here.